Life, 1919-02-13 · page 28 of 42
Life — February 13, 1919 — page 28: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the social pretensions of theatergoers through a guide on how different behaviors at performances will be misinterpreted by audiences. The humor lies in showing that whatever one does at the theater—applauding unpopular moments, sighing at innovations, coaching companions, name-dropping actors, quoting comedians, or arriving late—will be judged negatively by *someone*, making it impossible to appear genuinely sophisticated. The two illustrated scenes show theater crowds ("Back to the Grind" depicts ordinary theatergoers); the upper portrait references old master paintings to mock theatrical pretension. The "Twenty-One Plus" joke at bottom addresses women's suffrage: a suffragist estimates a woman's age as "seventeen votes," implying women voters were relatively new and numerically significant in elections.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
256 Divided Opinions Regard- ing the Blasé Theatregoer you will applaud an uninteresting part of the performance, that no one else seems to care for, you may get credit for artistic discrimination — or you may be regarded as totally ignorant. If you will sigh deeply when any- thing new is being done, there are some people who will be impressed with the idea that you are so familiar with theatrical history that you have innovations tried out many seen simi times before with disastrous results others will frown upon you as being artistically unprogressive. If you will coach your companion, in | a loud voice, as to what is coming next, , you will be able to convey the idea, to | certain of your neighbors, that you have seen the same show, or others like it, many times before—others will 1 naturally regard you as one of those | loose-lipped idiots who cannot keep i their mouths closed. | If you will speak of the actors and | the manager of the theatre by their | i | given names, you may be able to make a certain per cent. of your hearers be- lieve the people you speak of so famil- iarly havg accepted you as an equal— others will conclude that they are work- ing you for something. | If you will quote the bright things { the leading comedian said to you yes- | terday, *| give all the details of tie AhalArcaeacoicare (rein Ge eiane ] y A PANAMA CANAL DIGGER (AFTER REMRANDT) prima donna’s private life, as she con- fided them to you, you can probably delude some gullible folks. into believ- ing that you are a bosom friend of both—others will set you down as a monumental liar. If you will come in late and leave early, you will convey the idea to a limited few that an entire theatrical performance bores you, and that it is only the vital spots that you can man- age to endure—others will be more nearly right when they conclude that your better-half has issued an ulti- matum as to your coming and going. Twenty-One Plus IRST SUFFRAGIST: How old do you think Mabel i Seconp Surrractst: Weill, 1 should about seventeen votes. say she had lo: THE GRIND